A purchase order (often shortened to ‘PO’) is a document used in business to authorize a purchase transaction. It is typically used by a buyer to request goods or services from a supplier, and it serves as a legally binding agreement between the buyer and supplier. A purchase order typically includes details such as the items or services being purchased, the quantities, the prices, the delivery date, and any special instructions or terms of the purchase.
The purchase order is usually created by the buyer and sent to the supplier, who then acknowledges receipt of the purchase order and confirms that they are able to supply the goods or services as requested. Once the supplier has shipped the goods or provided the services, they will send an invoice to the buyer for payment.
The purchase order is an important document in the accounting process as it serves as a record of the company’s purchase transactions, and it helps to ensure that the company is paying for the correct goods and services, and at the correct prices. It also helps to maintain accurate financial
eTail Support can be used to generate Purchase Orders to be sent to your suppliers asking them to provide goods or services to your business.
When you create a Purchase order in etail Support you set up a ‘Purchase Order Record’, each Purchase Order Record is linked to one and only one supplier record.
The purchase order tells the supplier what the company wants to buy, how many of each type of item and what price we have agreed to pay for each item. If the items require delivery then the PO will also tell the Supplier where to deliver them.
Each Purchase Order has one or more lines on it, each line representing a particular product or service that the company wished to purchase. Each line of the order has a status, which is set by the system, the statuses of the individual lines are combined to create the overall status of the whole Purchase Order.
The creation of a Purchase Order does not have any impact on the company’s accounts, the first impact on the accounts comes when the goods or services ordered on the PO are accepted or booked into stock by the Company.
A Purchase Order is often referred to by the acronym ‘PO’. You can see a list of your outstanding Pos by going to the List & Search Purchase Orders page (PURCHASING & SUPPLIERS > Purchase Orders) where you can filter the list by PO status and by date, value and supplier.
